Seeds of the Kingdom

“SEEDS OF THE KINGDOM”

A sermon preached at the
Mint Methodist Church,
Exeter,
by the Minister,
Rev Andrew Sails
at 10.30 am on
14^th June 2009 -
at a Sung Communion Service (with Haydn’s Little Organ Mass)
for Methodist Homes
Sunday

Readings:
Ezekiel 17:22-24, Mark 4:26-32

[The Kingdom of Heaven] is like a mustard seed,
which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes
the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches
that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."
(Mk 4:31-32)

Go back in time and try to hear these words in their original context.

Imagine you are sitting listening to the teacher Jesus talking
with his followers on a hillside outside Capernaum or wherever.
You are intrigued by his words - but this man claims so much -
he talks about the fulfilment of his teaching in the coming rule of God.

And you say to yourself - maybe you even say to him -

· Have you not seen the Roman army on the march?

· Has he not seen the libraries
and debating chambers of the Greek philosophers?

· Have you not seen the vested interests
of the Temple & of Herod?

And here is this man with a few dozen
North country fishermen and hangers on
talking about the rule of God.
Come on Jesus, you have some good ideas -
but bring in a Kingdom?
You and whose army?

The again, go on a few years, and imagine yourself in Rome.
The date is around AD70,
and you are part of the small Christian community in hiding.
In hiding because for 4 years the young Church
has endured brutal persecution under Nero -
the Christians playing the role so often played
by foreigners and outsiders throughout history -
a convenient group to blame when things go wrong
and the Government needs a scapegoat.
You are listening as someone reads from the brand new Gospel of Mark -
You could be forgiven for thinking that
the great words about the coming Kingdom of Christ
seemed a bit at odds with the hole in the corner existence
of his beleaguered followers in the city.

But then you hear the words of the Gospel -
The Kingdom of Heaven, says Jesus, “is like a mustard seed,
which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants,
with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."

In other words - Look at a mustard seed, says Jesus -
you need 750 to weigh one gram - next to nothing -
but look what it grows to - in one season it is ten foot tall!

In other words - Trust in the Lord.
God will accomplish great results from small,
and (looking at the membership of the early Church)
frankly unpromising beginnings.

But let me ask you a question -
have you ever wondered why Jesus chose a mustard bush?

Why did he not speak about a great tree?

Our OT passage talks about the victory of God’s rule
in terms of a great cedar of Lebanon, 100 feet tall,
a majestic symbol of God’s coming Kingdom.

Yet Jesus replaces this traditional OT image of a great towering tree
with the image of a mustard bush -
yes, a fast growing and large shrub, which grows to 10 feet tall in a season -
but an annual plant, which needs to be reseeded each year.

Maybe we need to hold both images in our mind together -
the fast growing mustard bush of Mark’s Gospel
and the mighty cedar of Ezekiel’s prophecy.

In the garden at Killerton there is a fine Californian redwood
brought as a sapling in the 19^th century and now -
if my memory serves me correctly - a 100’ or so tall.
I guess everyone could have stood around for a hundred years
waiting for it to grow.
Thankfully they got on with cultivating the rest of garden -
planning the perennial shrubs,
and each year planting out the annual bedding plants

¨ At the end of time the great redwoods, the sequoia, the cedars of Lebanon,
all will be as nothing compared with the ultimate majesty of God’s rule -
and we need to live our lives today knowing that that day will come.

¨ But that day is not here yet -
We live in the in between times -
we see still in a mirror dimly -
we see but the first fruits of the Kingdom of Heaven
dimly reflected in the Church and the world -
and we are called to be gardeners sowing, planting, watering
the seed which God has given us.
We may be growing mustard bushes not cedars -
but don’t underestimate how they can grow!!

So a few practical messages for mustard growing Church:

We need to look with God’s eyes
and see the seeds of the Kingdom
planted often in the most unlikely places
and in the most unlikely lives.
It is easy to look at the world and see the world
with the mentality of the newspaper headlines -
always going for the doom and gloom -
There is plenty of that, and we need to see it for what it is,
but we also need to see the seeds of hope,
the small plants of love and peace and justice,
and recognize them and nurture them

We need to expect great things.

· When you talk to someone about the Gospel, remember -
it is not just your words that carry the burden of the conversation -
it is the seed of the Gospel you are planting in that person’s heart -
and who knows how that seed may not grow and flourish?

· Tomorrow we start building work on the Church -
already we need to be thinking about the work
we will do in our new building -
its like a we are market gardeners
and we’ve just built a brand new greenhouse -
Heaven forbid we just sit and admire the architecture
and the quality of the glazing -
we know, or we should know,
that we can use it to nurture many news seedlings,
grow on thousands of plants -
and who knows -
for we have good seed -
how they may grow?!

We are called to nurture not destroy life
We had great fun at the Safari Supper last night with the Wild West theme -
Good for a laugh - but of course riding into town with six shooters blazing
has its limitations as a theological image -
At the risk of being too serious about a fun evening,
God’s cowboys are called to care for the herd, not shoot the Indians

We need to recognize that there will be times when things better,
times when they seem to go worse -
we are growing mustard bushes not cedars right now -
there may be reverses - as winter follows summer.

There will be times when the way of discipleship
seems all about vulnerability and disappointment -
but that is part of being the Church,
part of treading the way of the cross-

· What matters is not that our every endeavour
is an unqualified success in worldly terms

· What matters is that we keep on sowing the seed,

· What matters is that the seed is good,
and that there is always an abundance to sow if we will be sow it.

We may not live in the Kingdom of Heaven yet -
but we need to sow the seeds of the Kingdom.
Thank God for Methodist Homes -
one day we will all be called home
to God’s glorious mansions in the City of God -
but till that day we build homes of love and care here below -
seeds of the Kingdom.
And for “Methodist Homes” which we support today,
read “every organization and campaign for justice
and a fuller and more enriching life” -
this is where we need to be .

Sometimes the image changes
and we become the seed which Christ would sow -

1. 1800 years ago Tertullian wrote the famous words
“the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,”

2. And in recent history Oscar Romero
opposing the fascist dictators of El Salvador wrote
“It is my hope that my blood will be the seed of freedom
and the sign that hope will soon be a reality”

When things turn against you,
when the Gospel seems a very frail defence
against death and sin and doubt and the powers that be in the world -
trust in God and his power.

Where are the Armies of Rome now?

The Church is an anvil which has worn out many hammers.

“Sects and ideologies almost always seem stronger than the Church.
Sects and ideologies fly; the church limps.
Sects and ideologies die; the Church limps on.
Stick with the Church”

(FD Bruner, “Matthew” Eerdmans 1990, vol 2 p.35)

So let’s give our lives, our faith, our seedtime offerings -
and pray that our harvest on earth may be the firstfruits
of the assured great Harvest home of heaven to come

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Order of Service

10.30 a.m. Holy Communion led by Rev Andrew Sails,
with the Mint Choir singing Haydn’s Little Organ Mass

The Gathering of the People of God

Hymn 781 “See how great a flame aspires”

Prayer

Choir: Kyrie and Gloria

Kyrie, eleison!
Christe, eleison!
Kyrie, eleison!

Lord, have mercy!
Christ, have mercy!
Lord, have mercy!

Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.

Laudamus te, benedicimus te,
adoramus te, glorificamus te,
gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam: Domine Deus, Rex coelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.

Domine Fili unigenite,
Jesu Christe, Domine Deus,
Agnus Dei, Filius Patris
qui tollis peccata mundi,
miserere nobis;

qui tollis peccata mundi,
suscipe deprecationem nostram;

qui sedes ad dexteram Patris,
Miserere nobis.

Quoniam tu solus sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus altissimus:
Jesu Christe, cum Sancto Spiritu
in gloria Dei Patris. Amen.

Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people of good will.

We praise You, we bless You,
we worship You, we glorify You,
we thank You for Your great glory
O Lord God, King of Heaven,
God the Father Almighty.

O Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son, O Lord God
Lamb of God, Son of the Father who takes away the sins of the world: have mercy on us;

who takes away the sins of the world give ear to our prayer;

who sits at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.

For You alone are holy, You alone are the Lord, You alone are high above all: Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Ministry of the Word

Readings: Ezekiel 17:22-24 (p.844) and Mark 4:26-32 (p.1006)

Introducing Methodist Homes - Dorothy Worthington

Hymn 552 “Lord of all hopefulness”

Sermon: “Seeds of the Kingdom”

Choir: Credo

Credo in unum Deum.
Patrem omnipotentem,
factorem caeli et terrae,
visibilium omnium et invisibilium.

Et in unum Dominum
Jesum Christum,
Filium Dei unigenitum,
Et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula.
Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine,
Deum verum de Deo vero.
Genitum, non factum,
consubstantialem Patri:
per quem omnia facta sunt.

Qui propter nos homines
et propter nostram salutem
descendit de caelis.

Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto
ex Maria Virgine:
Et homo factus est.
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato:
passus, et sepultus est.

Et resurrexit tertia die,
secundum scripturas.
Et ascendit in caelum:
sedet ad dexteram Patris.

Et iterum venturus est
cum gloria judicare vivos et mortuos:
Cujus regni non erit finis.

Et in Spiritum sanctum Dominum, et vivificantem:
Qui ex Patre, Filioque procedit.
Qui cum Patre, et Filio simul adoratur, et conglorificatur:
Qui locutus est per Prophetas.

Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam.

Confiteor unum baptisma
in remissionem peccatorum.

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
and of all things visible & invisible

And in one Lord,
Jesus Christ,
Only begotten Son of God,
Begotten of his Father before all worlds.
God of God, light of light,
Very God of very God.
Begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father:
by whom all things were made.

Who for us men
and for our salvation
came down from heaven.

And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost
of the Virgin Mary:
And was made man.
And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate:
suffered, and was buried.

And the third day He rose again
according to the scriptures.
And ascended into heaven,
and sits at the right hand of the Father

And He shall come again
with glory to judge the living and the dead:
His kingdom shall have no end.

And (I believe in) the Holy Spirit,
Lord and giver of life:
Who proceeds from the Father & Son.
Who with the Father and Son
together is worshipped and glorified:
Who spake by the Prophets.

And in one holy catholic and
apostolic church.

I acknowledge one baptism
for the remission of sins.

Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum,

et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.

And I look for the resurrection of the dead,

and the life of the world to come. Amen

Prayers of Intercession and Lord’s Prayer

Hymn 807 “What shall I offer”
(During this hymn, the collection is taken & offerings brought forward)

The Lord’s Supper

Peace (stand):

Minister	The peace of the Lord be always with you
People	And also with you.

[We offer one another a handshake or other sign of peace]

The Thanksgiving

[The congregation stands]
Minister	Lift up your hearts
People	We lift them to the Lord
Minister	Let us give thanks to the Lord our God
People	It is right to give our thanks and praise
Minister	In creation, you planted the seeds of your imagination. The Spirit gently nurtured them, with the waters and warmth of life; the Word whispered their names and called them into being. You shaped us your children in your image, breathing hope and life into us, that we might enjoy your good gifts. But, tasting the temptations of sin, our growth was stunted and our spiritual harvest failed. So you sent the prophets to sow the words which call us back to you. When we continued to follow our own foolish ways, you sent Jesus to be among us, so we might recognize your love for us, and share in the good news of the coming harvest of the Kingdom. So with thankful hearts we rejoice with all your people everywhere:
Choir	Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini, Hosanna in excelsis.	Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. The heavens and earth are filled with thy glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.]
[The congregation sits]
Choir	Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis. [Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. ]
[The congregation stands]
Minister	On the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, he gave thanks, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying “Take, eat, this is my body. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup; he gave thanks and gave it to them saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this is my blood of the new Covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
People	Dying, you destroyed our death. Rising, you restored our life. Lord Jesus, come in glory.
Minister	Come, Spirit of God, move over these signs of life and celebration, this bread and wine, that we may take them as your body and blood. As we stand around this table, may we be your people, committed to your Kingdom, whose name is justice, peace and love.
People	Come, risen Lord, live in us that we may live in you.
Minister:	Look, the Body of Christ is broken for the life of the world.

[Young Church members join us from their sessions]

Distribution of the Bread and Wine

During which the choir will sing the Agnus Dei:
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.
[Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world Have mercy on us
Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world Give us peace]

Prayer:

People

We thank you, Lord, that you have fed us in this sacrament, united us with Christ, and given us a foretaste of the heavenly banquet prepared for all people. Amen.

Hymn 817 “Glorious things of thee are spoken”
(Tune “Austria” by Joseph Haydn)

Blessing

[The great Prayer of Thanksgiving is based loosely on a liturgy
© 2009 Thom M. Shuman (http://lectionaryliturgies.blogspot.com)]